Star Trek Watching Order

[primalscream]

Hi,

I'm thinking about watching all of Star Trek from beginning to end, but in doing so, have started to wonder when it was best to watch Enterprise. Chronologically it obviously should be the first thing to watch, however the temporarl war theme along with the final episode makes me think that it would actually be best watching it after Nemesis (i.e. taking Enterprise as a temporal cold war storyline that eventually brings us back to the star trek present day Riker and Troi [more or less]).

What do people think? Where do you put Enterprise?

Thanks!

 

[Joshua Howard]

I personally would watch ENT, TOS, TOS Movies, Generations, TNG/DS9/VOY, TNG Movies, STXI in that order.

I would advise new fans, however, to start with TOS, for the simple reason that it is the most graphically primitive and thus the hardest - in terms of visuals - to hook a new person on. For a person new to Star Trek, I would advise Movies I-XI, TOS, TNG, ENT, DS9/VOY if desired...

To answer your question, I put ENT first. I haven't watched all the ENT episodes, but from what I have seen of it, there doesn't seem to be enough storyline distortion to warrant putting it anywhere else in chronology.

 

[Kegg]

The simplest chronology is production order. Which would put ENT as the last series watched, and it'd be what I'd follow. ENT may take place earlier than the other series, but with all the in-jokes, references, nods, it's an all round self-conscious prequel series and in my opinion does work best last.

If you wanted to do things by timeline, then things get murky, especially when one considers the various time travel episodes and movies. If you went that way, though, it'd definitely be ENT, then Trek XI, then TOS, anyway, because although the new movie is in a different timeline it's chronologically earlier than TOS events.

 

[primalscream]

Its a difficult one, as Joshua said Enterprise fits chronologically before all the other series' but Kegg, you make a good point about all the in-jokes and references in Enterprise to what (chronologically speaking) comes later.

I guess what i'm looking for is a 'watching order' that largely takes into account chronology but generally makes for the best viewing experience. I find it difficult to go from modern CGI effects to TOS models (even if I manage to get my hands on the new CGI version of TOS) as far as watching experience goes - in that way it makes some sense to go for production order - but I still need a clearer reason to put Enterprise after Nemesis!

 

[Kegg]

but I still need a clearer reason to put Enterprise after Nemesis!

ENT came out before Nemesis and was airing during and after that film's production. You could watch NEM during your ENT viewing.

 

[timothy1701]

I vote putting enterprise last. Just like with star wars, I think it's best to see it in the order that it came out. If you've already seen all of trek, I guess it wouldn't hurt to watch enterprise first. Don't know how you feel about Enterprise, but alot of people hate it.(not me) So if you do, you could get it out of the way early, and not have to dread it during the other 700 hours of trek!

 

[primalscream]

Interesting, does putting the new Star Wars films after the original trilogy work?

I like Enterprise - it doesn't do what I hoped it would do (aka act as a prequel - at least until the final season), but its generally entertaining enough.

I think I generally agree with Kegg and Timothy1701 by putting it after Nemesis - not so much because of production order but because it makes more sense there even if the events depicted in it are 200 years earlier.

I know a lot of people particularly hate the final episode of Ent. I generally agree that it was pretty rubbish - but I do want to include it and it defeinately doesn't feel right putting that episode before the original series.

 

[bok2384]

Well I started a Trek marathon on September 8th and decided to go with the chronological order and start with Enterprise first. I'm currently up to "Regeneration" and I haven't really had much problem with the whole prequel/sequel thing. Instead of back referencing I see it as foreshadowing, and "Regeneration" certainly is a good one too test that theory on.

In another sense, its actually increased my appreciation for Enterprise as well. Many storylines in the first couple of series were rehashes from TNG and VOY, but now its those that have rehashed them.

As for "These Are the Voyages", I'm holding that back to watch alongside "The Pegasus". Chronologically that is where the main framing story takes place, and the 2161 segment only takes place on the holodeck, and thanks to The Good That Men Do, we know is a false representation anyway. Also, I've decided to watch Star Trek (2009) after Nemesis and use Nero and Spock Prime as my reference point to open up a whole new era for Star Trek.

 

[teacherkarl]

This summer I, too, started a marathon watching all Trek. I decided to do it in approximate chronological order. But I'm not going too overboard with specifics. For example, I watched TATV at the end of my ENT run, not saving it to watch concurrently with "The Pegasus". I started with ENT, moved through TOS-R, then the movies (I - VI), then TNG (in the middle of Season 3 ATM), will watched DS9 concurrently with TNG, then VOY concurrently with DS9, and fit the TNG movies in where they're supposed to go.

Just watched "Sins of the Father" tonight. Gotta say, that along with reading Trek books as fast as I can, it's letting me look at the franchise as a whole in a new light. I appreciated ENT much more the second time through than when it was first aired.

 

[The Wormhole]

The first three movies
DS9 season 7
TOS season 1
TNG seasons 6 and 7
Movies IV to VI
Voyager season 7
DS9 season 5
TOS season 3
TOS season 2
Enterprise seasons 1-4
TNG movies, excluding First Contact
DS9 season 4
DS9 season 1
Voyager season 1
TNG season 2
TNG season 5
Voyager seasons 2-5
TAS
First Contact
DS9 season 6
TNG season 1
Voyager season 6
TNG season 3
DS9 season 2
TNG season 4, excluding the episode "First Contact"
DS9 season 3
Trek XI
TNG episode "First Contact"

That's the definitive order of how Star Trek should be watched.

 

[Anji]

Watch it as they were produced. It's the only way to really appreciate them.

 

[Phillip Culley]

Wasn't there someone who posted here who had never seen Trek before, and was watching everything in chronological order (beginning with Enterprise)?

I remember since his posts a year or so back, however he seems to have vanished...

 

[I am not Spock]

I'd go with production order.

TOS, TAS, TOS movies, TNG, DS9, VOY, TNG movies, ENT, XI

ENT and the new film work best after you're already familiar with Trek, because of all the references and in-jokes, etc.

 

[thew40]

I'm currently watching all of Trek in chronological order. Here's what I got:

Enterprise Seasons 1-4
Star Trek Seasons 1-3
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek movies 1-6
The Next Generation seasons 1-7/Deep Space Nine seasons 1-7/Voyager 1-7/movies 7-10
Star Trek 11

It's tricky one it gets into TNG, DS9, VOY, and movies 7-9 because they all overlap. I have them organized by airdate and, for the later seasons of DS9 and VOY, by story arc.

But I'm an old hand. I've seen a lot of these before, though it's been a looooong time. Honestly, if you're a new Trek fan, I would almost recommend starting with some of the movies and working your way from there. Forward, backward, horizontal . . . doesn't matter.

 

[RAMA]

Hi,

I'm thinking about watching all of Star Trek from beginning to end, but in doing so, have started to wonder when it was best to watch Enterprise. Chronologically it obviously should be the first thing to watch, however the temporarl war theme along with the final episode makes me think that it would actually be best watching it after Nemesis (i.e. taking Enterprise as a temporal cold war storyline that eventually brings us back to the star trek present day Riker and Troi [more or less]).

What do people think? Where do you put Enterprise?

Thanks!

omg, a daunting task

 

[Smiley]

I can't really imagine wanting to watch all the incarnations of Star Trek in one go. It was never designed as a gigantic saga with a beginning, middle, and end, and it really doesn't work as one. I just watch the series or movies that I'm interested in at the time. I know that I would never enjoy doing a chronological or production order viewing of the franchise.

At least with Trek XI, we have an endpoint that I would be happy with.

 

[Neutral Zone]

This is my order, simplistic but it works for me.

TOS
Movie I-IV
TNG
Movies VII-X
DS9
Voy
Movie XI
Ent [Not sure where to put this one?]

I would always sugeest, if possible, to watch TOS first as it started it all and then the first movie as it kick started Trek into what it is today.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Having watched the SW films in "Episode order," I decided that sucked. They just don't work for me that way, given how (for me) the prequel trilogy so thoroughly de-balls everything from the original trilogy.

Though I've never sat down and attempted a marathon viewing of Trek in similar fashion, my gut call is to view them as produced: TOS --> ENT.

 

[bbailey861]

This is my order, simplistic but it works for me.

TOS
Movie I-IV
TNG
Movies VII-X
DS9
Voy
Movie XI
Ent [Not sure where to put this one?]

I would always sugeest, if possible, to watch TOS first as it started it all and then the first movie as it kick started Trek into what it is today.

I like this list, although I would put Enterprise above Movie XI.

 

[I am not Spock]

Neither Trek nor Wars really works in chronological order. Because they weren't really designed as an all-encompassing epic. They often made up stuff as they went along. If you watched ENT before TOS and the other shows, you may be slightly confused.